How did the Panthers do in fantasy football? Will those trends continue?
The Carolina Panthers played pretty well, but drops and missed tackles led to their downfall against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals in week four of the NFL season. Let’s take a look back at how individual Panthers players fared and if they are worth keeping moving forward. For these articles, I will be using fantasy totals in an ESPN Fantasy league I am part of, so your numbers might have been slightly different.
Quarterback
Andy Dalton
Aside from a lame duck interception after Trey Hendrickson got a paw on the ball as he was throwing, Dalton played quite well. He managed a decent if unspectacular 15.7 fantasy points. While his yardage dipped quite a bit, he still tossed a couple touchdowns to bring that score up. He still seems to be a solid QB2 in fantasy, especially in two quarterback leagues.
Runningback
Chuba Hubbard
Chuba had another outstanding day with Dalton under center, notching his second straight game with over 100 yards on the ground. He also hit paydirt, pushing him to 22.1 fantasy points. If he can continue this trend, Chuba may find himself in the RB1 must-play tier.
Wide Receiver
Diontae Johnson
Johnson still had the target share of a WR1, and he hauled in just over half his targets and scored once again. This was his second week in a row over 20 points in fantasy, this time around ending with 21.3 fantasy points. Assuming his groin injury doesn’t keep him out, he’s definitely a starting receiver in fantasy every week at this point.
Xavier Legette
We said Legette would have the opportunity to step up with Adam Thielen on IR. And he did. Sure, he has his rookie moments with drops in big moments, but that should work it’s way out of his system in time. He had double digit targets this week and even scored his first touchdown of his career. He ended up with 19.6 fantasy points this week, showing his potential. If he can clean things up, he’ll definitely be a good option while Thielen recovers.
Tight End
Ja’Tavion Sanders
Sanders had two targets and caught both, but he only managed 16 yards and 3.6 fantasy points. With Ian Thomas returning to practice this week, it’s hard to see a Panthers tight end being worth a roster spot until one of them rises above the others in a big way.
Defense/Special Teams
The defense was plagued by poor tackling and ill-timed penalties. They only managed one turnover and no sacks en route to literally 0.0 fantasy points. At least they weren’t in the negatives? Anyway, definitely not a defense you should have on your roster nevermind actually starting. We’ll see if things improve with Dane Jackson and DJ Wonnum slowly working their way back.